In 1906, the Singapore branch of the Tongmenghui (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, headed by Sun Yat-sen) was established. As newspaper was a powerful tool to advocate the revolutionaries’ ideals, local revolutionists led by merchants Tan Chor Nam (陈楚楠) and Teo Eng Hock (张永福) set up the Chong Shing Yit Pao (中兴日报) on 20 August 1907 to combat and undermine the credibility of the Union Times, which was the mouthpiece of the reformists in Singapore.

Around 1,000 copies of the dailies were sold, until it ceased publication in 1910 due to financial difficulty. From 1907 to 1910, Chong Shing Yit Pao underwent a long “battle of the pen” with the Union Times. This was the longest verbal clash between the revolutionists and reformist in British Malaya, with long lasting influence on its Chinese population’s political idealogies.

Publications from August 1907 to February 1910 are now available online at Digital Gems.